Beyond Discrimination: Racial Inequality in a Post-Racist Era

Acknowledgments

xiii Acknowledgments This book began life as a series of intense conversations during and after the 2008 presidential election. Barack Obama’s stirring campaign and dramatic election seemed to signal at once the maturation of a new pattern of American politics, in which a serious racial barrier to achievement had been shattered, and a new attentiveness to questions of race and inequality in American politics and society. But as Obama’s presidency began to unfold, questions arose about the persistence of racial inequality in this new era. We especially thank Dorian Warren for his contributions to these discussions and his help in framing the animating questions that motivate this volume. These reflections prompted us to convene a small conference in May 2010, generously funded and hosted by the Russell Sage Foundation with additional funding from the Center for African-American Politics and Society and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University . The participants were drawn from across the social sciences, all of them outstanding scholars who have, in a variety of ways, tackled some of the key empirical and analytical challenges of explaining the persistence of racial inequality in the post–civil rights era, drawing on a wide range of theoretical traditions and methodological approaches, all of which are represented in the chapters that follow. At the conference, Christina Greer, Kimberley Johnson, Olati Johnson, Samuel Roberts, and Carla Shedd participated as discussants, and Ira Katznelson also joined much of the discussion. Their contributions enriched the conversation over two days in New York City, and their comments helped sharpen the focus of the discussion and improved the papers . The conference was opened by a public roundtable, Racial Inequality in the Age of Obama, which framed the themes and challenges that the ensuing conference and this volume take up. For their participation in the roundtable, we are grateful to William Julius Wilson, Charles M. Blow of xiv    Acknowledgments the New York Times, and Ira Katznelson. Kate Krimmel provided exemplary organizational support. At Russell Sage, we are especially grateful to Eric Wanner for his support of the project and to Suzanne Nichols for her patient guidance through the publication process. Several anonymous reviewers provided tough but helpful comments that improved the book. ...